Two year Bible reading program.

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:26 Understanding to grow in Leviticus ends with a reminder of its purpose: It contains God's instructions at Sinai for how Israel should live in covenant with her holy God (26v46). Honouring and obeying him will bring the blessings of a fruitful land, security from enemies and increased numbers. But failing to will mean these things are lost. Yet mercy is present. The punishments will intensify only if Israel refuses to turn from her sin (26v18, 21, 23, 27). And repentance will bring restoration because of God's promises to the Patriachs. These things echo the blessings of creation and the curse of the fall (26v12), and keep us sober as many churches and Christians today persist in refusin...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:25 Understanding to grow in We see both the awesomeness and kindness of God here. It is fear of God that is to keep the Israelites from ruthlessness (25v43). This constraining reverence is no doubt instilled through the death penalty for blasphemy. But God's kindness fills the rest of the passage. It is seen in his restraining punishments so that they fit the crimes committed. And it is seen in his protecting the land he had gifted his people. The jubilee laws ensure that property owned by each tribe, clan and family is only ever sold temporarily and so ultimately kept as God had given it. This therefore put a limit on poverty and servitude. As for non-Israelite slaves, we should note that thi...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:24 Understanding to grow in God delights in our joy. He instituted Sabbaths so that Israelites would rest, and festivals so that they would remember him and celebrate all the good he gave. As you read consider the specific things these instructions would have kept Israel remembering, and their equivalents for us now in Christ. Then rejoice in the Lord. Leviticus 23:1-24:9 Finish this reading by pausing to ask yourself: 1) What’s the main thing it teaches me about God or his purposes in Christ? Then  praise  him for this. 2) What’s the main thing it teaches me about his will for me or the world? Then  pray  that home. Devotion to offer up You could read t...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:23 Understanding to grow in We have already seen that as those in closest proximity to God, priests are required to be particularly pure. So the laws applying to them are stricter. And respect for the offerings and cleanliness laws is critical. Disrespecting the former “profanes” God’s name by suggesting he is unholy. Ignoring the latter is to treat his requirements “with contempt” (22v9). The whole point to the regulations we’ve been studying is to bring home God’s utter perfection, purity, orderliness and otherness, and so the great privilege and wonder that he would dwell amongst Israel, and the need for Israel herself to be holy. Interestingly, the very elaborate nature of the sacrificial syst...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:22 Understanding to grow in Every generation faces particular temptations. Although the law condemns all sex outside of marriage, chapters 18 and 20 therefore lists particular practices Israel may have been drawn to because they were common in the nations around them. So these are not laws for Israel back then that simply apply through Christ as general principles. They are things that are detestable to God when done by any peoples (18v24-28, 20v23) and so a challenge to the immorality of our own day. The laws of chapter 19 seem rather a mix. Some keep Israel from the idolatry and occult practices of the surrounding nations. Some add instructions on offerings. Others stress honesty, justice, love...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:21 Understanding to grow in Chapter 16 details the important "day of atonement" (known as Yom Kippur) in which the nation were purified and forgiven their sin from the previous year. Because of God’s presence over the atonement cover to the ark, this was the only time the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and even then needed incense to conceal the cover. The things of the tabernacle are cleansed from contamination so that the LORD could remain amongst them without destroying them (16v16-20). And the sins of the priests and people were atoned for and so removed. The whole drama showed that none in Israel could truly come close to God as they couldn’t enter the Most Holy Place...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:20 Understanding to grow in More regulations on cleanliness. Perhaps those regarding houses hint to how the land itself could be defiled by Israel’s sin. They remind us that our ultimate destiny is a new creation filled with the glory of the Lord. It, as well as his people, will on that day be perfect, clean and fit for his presence. Chapter 15 deals with "discharges" from the sexual organs. They make people particularly unclean, contaminating much they touch. Although this may be because of the link between sex and the transmission of sin to each generation, this does not suggest the discharges themselves are somehow wrong. Rather, they are unfitting or unacceptable in the context of ...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:19 Understanding to grow in Just as there may have been health benefits in the food laws, so there are in the laws about skin diseases and fabrics. Potential infection is contained. Nevertheless, the primary purpose remains keeping what is unclean, and so unacceptable to God, apart from what is holy. The person with a skin disease was to display the signs of mourning (13v45-46), cry “unclean, unclean” and live alone outside the camp. It would have been a terrible existence. However we should remember it was a necessary act of protection for the wider community. And Jesus showed such people were not greater sinners than others in Israel, stressing it was the heart that makes a man unclean (Mk...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:18 Understanding to grow in The best suggestion about what distinguishes clean animals is that they were those which did not eat dead meat and that were more distinctive to their sphere of creation. This stresses the idea of cleanliness as that of being acceptable and distinctive - a reminder that in worshipping God Israel were to be set-apart from the nations (11v44-45). Indeed, if an Israelite were made unclean from contact with what was unclean, they were considered unfit to worship God. And the fact that the carcass of an unclean animal would make even utensils it touched unclean highlights that Israel's seperation was to be absolute. Now the nations can be included amongst God’s people ...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:17 Understanding to grow in Aaron and sons are ordained just "as the LORD commanded." Many of the ideas so far in the book are therefore repeated. Of note is the goal: God appearing (9v23-24). As we've seen, the purpose of the priesthood is to enable God to dwell amongst sinners without destroying them in righteous wrath. The story of Aaron's sons makes the point. When up close to God they presumed to act in a way he hadn't commanded, and the fire of his anger broke out and consumed them. Moses' response clarifies that those who approach God must do so acknowledging the purity and perfection of his holiness. Indeed, one reason sin must be punished is to show onlookers t...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:16 Understanding to grow in This section ends the first chunk of the book that details regulations God gave on the day he commanded offerings be brought (7v37-38). Every detail has significance, but two themes seem dominant. The first is that in being holy offerings should not come in contact with anything or anyone that is "unclean." This explains much of why priests must change clothes, eat in the sanctuary, wash pots etc. It vividly brings home how thoroughly we as God's people are to be set-apart from what is sinful (2 Cor 6v14-18). For in Christ we are sanctified, which is to be set-apart as holy (1 Cor 6v11). Second, we see that priests are fed with a share of the offerings. ...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:15 Understanding to grow in The majority of our reading deals with "unintentional" sins. Distinguishing them shows they are less serious, yet still warrant punishment and so sacrifice. They still reflect our corrupt instincts. The offerings differ according to staus, reflecting a greater seriousness in those with greater responsibilty (James 3v1). The laying on of hands pictures the transferring of sin to the animal which is then to die as a substitute in the sinner's place. Blood is sprinkled seven times "before the LORD" infront of the sanctuary curtain - where seven is the number of completion. It is pacifying his anger. Blood is also put on horns (jutting corners) of ...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, yor family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 12:14 Understanding to grow in Leviticus gets its name from the tribe of "Levi" who were tasked with caring for the tabernacle and carrying out its work. Moses and his brother Aaron were from this tribe, and so were the priests as they were Aaron's descendents. The book deals mainly with God's instructions for the work of the tabernacle and so follows rightly from Exodus. The detail of the various offerings once again shows how much is needed to deal with sin. Those in these chapters are a voluntary act of devotion to God (eg. 6v12, 16). In coming first they remind us it is hearts of spontaneous love and thankfulness that he delights in over mere adherence to religious regulation....